# Taste Profile — character & illustration

> The living design contract. References go in, recurring **design DNA** comes out, and
> every build consults this file. The vaguer the input, the weaker the steer; the more
> concrete (actual files, exact palettes, "I like X because Y"), the sharper.
>
> How it persists: this doc + the `feedback-character-design-taste` memory + the
> `flat-artist` skill. It compounds — every approve/reject sharpens it.

---

## Reference board

### 2026-06-24 — first character drop (4 refs)

**R1 — 3D clay / toy characters** ("ANONYMOUZ", *Blender + PNG files*)
Rounded soft-clay 3D, **minimal or featureless faces** (sunglasses, simple noses), strongly
**diverse + inclusive** (skin tones, ages, a wheelchair user, body types), everyday activities
(camera, gym, skate, gaming, shopping), **bright casual** clothing. The popular Gumroad/UI8
"3D casual character" look.

**R2 — bold flat vector** (winter / sports pack)
**Chunky confident shapes**, **saturated primaries** (red / blue / yellow / navy) on light-blue
panels, **dynamic athletic poses**, minimal faces (often hidden by goggles/helmets), thick forms.
Alegria-adjacent but **bolder and more saturated**.

**R3 — modern thick-outline cartoon** (sunglasses kid, sunset)
**Thick black outlines**, flat cel fills, **warm gradient backgrounds** (orange→pink), chill/cool
mood, simple expressive features, light environmental detail (wires/poles). Contemporary "cool"
cartoon.

**R4 — NFT / streetwear bold cartoon** (bearded, teal skin, surreal companions)
**Thick black outlines**, **hyper-saturated flat fills**, surreal/edgy characters with attitude,
solid color backgrounds. Doodles / Cool-Cats-adjacent.

---

## Core taste signal (the through-line)

Across all four, consistently:

- **Bold & saturated** — strong, confident color. **Not** muted, pastel, or washed-out.
- **Thick outlines** (in the 2D refs) — clean, heavy black line.
- **Minimal / stylized faces** — features simplified, abstracted, or hidden (shades, goggles).
- **Clean confident shapes** — rounded, deliberate forms (3D clay or flat).
- **Attitude & personality** — cool, expressive, characterful. **Not** corporate-bland.
- **Modern / on-trend** — every ref is a *current* style (3D clay, bold flat, NFT cartoon).
- **Diverse & inclusive** — especially R1.

## Anti-patterns (what to AVOID — the look that failed before)

- Muted / pastel / desaturated palettes.
- Soft, thin, timid line work; vague forms.
- Over-detailed, "trying to be realistic" faces → reads amateur ("the 5-year-old").
- Corporate flat-design blandness with no personality.

---

## Sourcing strategy (honest path to this quality)

These references are **purchasable / artist asset packs**, not styles I can reliably hand-redraw
at this bar. The reliable path:

1. **Vendor the actual packs** the user owns. R1 even ships **PNG files** → those cutouts drop
   straight into the 2.5D engine as character layers (fastest win). Honor the license firewall
   (`docs/ASSET_LIBRARY.md`, `public/illustrations/assets.json`).
2. **Build motion / composition / templates around vendored characters** — that's our strength.
   **Don't** redraw characters from scratch (that's the hand-code ceiling).
3. For any character I *do* author, match the through-line: **thick outline + saturated fill +
   minimal face + confident shape.**

## Feasibility per style (in our engine)

| Style | Path |
|---|---|
| R1 3D clay | **Blender** for the source (it literally ships `.blend`); **PNG cutouts vendor directly** into 2.5D today. Three.js can *approach* soft-clay (rounded geo + soft mat) but the polished look = Blender. |
| R2 bold flat | **Matchable as SVG** — thick shapes + saturated fills; best **vendored** as a pack for consistency/volume. |
| R3 thick-outline cartoon | **Matchable as SVG** (heavy stroke + flat cel + gradient bg). Volume → vendor. |
| R4 NFT bold cartoon | **Matchable as SVG**; surreal characters are hard to author at scale → **vendor**. |

---

## Status / open questions
- [ ] Which style is the **primary** direction (or several as tiers)?
- [ ] Does the user **own the files** for these packs (to vendor), or are they inspiration only?
- [ ] Drop pack files into `references/characters/` → I vendor + ledger them.